Toothbrush
by soprano193
Summary: Love starts with a toothbrush.


A/N: This is a songfic set to Brad Paisley's Toothbrush. Even if you aren't a country music fan, you should totally check it out, because it's probably the sweetest song ever, and I'm not allowed to put the lyrics here, so you are missing part of the story. tell me what you think, because I happen to be in love with this song! :)

* * *

Richard Castle picked up the blue toothbrush, wetting it and squeezing out a small amount of the mint flavored toothpaste on the bristles. He brushed until his mouth felt fresh, rinsing out the Crest with a small cup of water. He checked the closeness of his shave. He mussed his hair so that it looked a little messy, he didn't want to look like he just came from a business meeting, not that he had. But he had to look presentable. "Perfect!" He declared to himself as he studied his reflection.

When the medical student he had been emailing for research, Lanie, heard about his pending divorce from Meredith, she set him up on a blind date with her friend. He tried to get out of it, telling her that college students might not be what he needed right now, but she dismissed him, assuring him that her friend was great. He had just gotten out of a relationship with flighty and immature, he was hoping for someone closer to his age, someone who knew where they were going. _She knows where she's going, don't worry so much! She'll meet you at Remy's at eight._ The last email had stated, and he didn't want to stand the poor girl up. Besides, he was sort of looking forward to a fun night out.

He was told she's be wearing a red flower in her hair. The only girl in the restaurant dressed like that sat in the corner booth, chewing on her bottom lip. She was beautiful. Long chestnut hair fell in loose curls at the middle of her back, and her cheekbones were absolutely stunning. She looked about as nervous as he felt, which he found somewhat comforting. He sauntered over to the table, flashing a wide grin in her direction. "Are you friends with Lanie?"

She looked up, and he got a good look at her eyes, a beautiful hazel-green color that shone in the semi-darkness of the restaurant. She nodded, sticking out her hand. "Yeah, I'm Kate. It's nice to meet you."

He shook her hand, sitting down in the booth opposite from her. "That's a beautiful name. Fitting." She blushed at his compliment, her hand finding its way back to her lap. "I'm Rick. It's nice to meet you."

And so started the blind date that surprised him in so many ways. Kate was smart, but humble about it. She was studying Law at Columbia, and could speak Russian, something he found incredibly hot. And she was a dreamer with lofty goals. _I want to be the first female Supreme Court Justice someday._ And if anyone could meet those goals, he was sure she could. She was just as nervous about their age difference at first as he was. _So you're twenty-six? And you've already been married once? Are you okay with the fact that I'm only twenty?_ She was adventurous, studying abroad and traveling. She also rode a motorcycle. She loved to read, and was hanging onto his every word as he described the plot for the book he hoped would be published.

They stayed there until the workers kicked them out, just talking about everything. He walked her back to her dorm, and faced her outside the brick building. "I'd love to do this again sometime."

The smile she flashed him could light up the night. "I'd be open to the possibility."

He pulled his little notebook from his pocket, the one he kept to jot down story ideas as they came to him. He opened to a clean page, passing it to her. "Just write your number here and I'll make sure I get back to you."

She did, adding a little heart shape at the end, closing it and handing it back to him. "Don't be one of those dumb guys who never calls." She teased.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."

Her nose crinkled as she chuckled. She moved closer to him, her hand resting on his arm. "Goodnight, Rick."

He wrapped her in a hug, his arms locked around her waist as she threw her arms around his neck. "Goodnight Kate." As she pulled away, slowly, her eyes met his again. They bounced from his eyes, down to his mouth, and back to his eyes. She leaned forward then, closing her eyes, tilting her head, and he closed the distance. There was a slight hesitation before their lips met, but when they did, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. The little moan she let escape, as well as the way her arms tightened around his neck, told him she was enjoying this as much as he was. He ran his fingers through her long hair, loving the soft feel of it between his fingers. When they broke apart, he swore he could see the stars from the night sky reflecting in her eyes. She chewed on her bottom lip, pecking him once more before trailing away to her building.

He called her the next day.

* * *

He was traditional, so he asked for permission before proposing. He wasn't expecting her parents to deny it though. "Can I ask why? I thought we got along."

"Rick, don't worry. We love you!" Johanna, her mother, sat next to him on the couch, squeezing his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "It's nothing against you. We just want you to wait a little bit."

His heart was racing, and he felt like the temperature in the room had risen about fifty degrees. "But I love her. I know that. And we've talked about marriage and I really think we're ready." He tried to reason it out.

"Is that what you thought when you married your first wife?" With Jim's words, he felt like all the air was let out of his lungs. He came here to get permission, not to get attacked. Jim leaned forward in his chair across from Rick. "I just think you shouldn't rush into these things. It's a huge step, and you are both trying to do so much with your lives. She's finishing school, you're trying to get published. Maybe it would be better to wait until after you get through those stressful events?" His smile was kind, which Rick found strange, because it felt like they were crushing all his dreams.

Johanna wrapped her arm around him, hugging him from the side. "If it's true love, it will wait."

He sighed, rising from the couch and shaking Jim's hand. Johanna wrapped him in a warm embrace, kissing his cheek. "Thank you both for your time." He spoke, as polite as he could manage despite the fact that he couldn't marry the girl of his dreams.

"Drive safe, Rick."

When he returned to his apartment, he called up his girlfriend of almost a year. She answered after the first ring. "How did it go?"

He sighed, falling into his bed. "They said no."

She was silent on the other line, probably just as shocked as he was. He listened to her breathe for a few moments before she spoke again. "Why would they say no?"

"They think it's too soon. They think that true love will wait."

She scoffed at that. "Yeah, Dad waited three years to even ask Mom out. I thought they'd be excited."

He ran his free hand through his hair. "Kate, I don't think I can ever ask them again. Even a year down the road I'll still be freaking out. What if they say no again?"

"Don't ask." He could hear her mischievous grin through the phone, the clear-as-day picture of her making it in his head clearing his mind of the doubts.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Kate?"

"I mean, we could just do it, get married. We could elope." When he didn't answer straight away, she continued. "Don't worry about my parents, I'll tell them it was my idea, and that I practically had to drag you to the altar because you didn't want to disrespect their wishes. They'll be angry at me for a week or two, max, and then it will all be normal again."

Of course, she knew what he was thinking without him having to say it. The idea was alluring, even if the fallout frightened him. Sure, true love would wait, but he didn't want to, and neither did she. "Let's do it."

A week later they found themselves, Lanie, and her boyfriend Javier, heading out to Central Park. There the officiant, an old friend of Rick's, performed a quick ceremony where he declared them husband and wife.

Rick and Kate took off that night for Florida, where they planned to spend an entire week ignoring calls and obligations, just reveling in their new found spontaneity and the next chapter in their lives. As Rick unpacked their things, he put their two toothbrushes together on the counter, his blue and hers green. It excited him more than it probably should have.

* * *

When his first novel got picked up, they bought a nice loft in SoHo, with plenty of wide open spaces. He bought a nice holder for their toothbrushes and put those in their bathroom. They were the first things he unpacked, being the nostalgic person he was. Kate humored him, more than ready to unpack their dishes so that they might be able to eat something. "Oh, Rick! I invited my parents over for dinner on Friday. So we need to have this looking somewhat organized."

He chuckled, moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Maybe you haven't heard, I don't do deadlines well."

She turned on her toes, pecking his lips. "That's why I lied about when they're actually coming."

He laughed at her then, shaking them both as he held on to her. "You little minx."

"I've learned all the tricks, Rick. I can get you to do anything I want." Her eyes met his, dancing with laughter.

"Oh, can you now?" He challenged, raising his eyebrows at her. She didn't answer him, just caught her bottom lip between her teeth, her hazel eyes bigger as she raised her own eyebrows suggestively. He growled, shaking his head and capturing her lips in a quick but intense kiss. "I would deny you just out of spite, but we have a new place to christen." Her laughter made warmth in his stomach spread throughout his body. All thoughts of unpacking that day were long gone. They'd get to it tomorrow.

Four months later, she was battling the stomach bug. She had called out of work a few times (at his insistence because she hated to be away from her job), and spent most of her day curled up on the couch with a book, a trash can within reach. Rick made her soup, held her hair, and did anything else she wanted him to do for her. Currently, he was watching her sleep on the couch. She looked so peaceful when she slept, a soft smile curved into her face, her hair falling in a halo around her head on the pillow. How did he get this lucky?

He sat on the edge of the couch, waking her gently. She grinned up at him, sitting up. "Hey babe. I'm sorry I've been no fun."

He reached out and stroked her hair, and she leaned into his touch. "No, I'm sorry that you've felt so awful. I wish I could do more for you."

She groaned. "No, don't make yourself sick. Limit your time with me and keep yourself healthy. This sucks." She rubbed her hand over her stomach a few times, as if pressing too hard would upset it again. "And with both of us down for the count, how would either of us survive?"

He chuckled, his hand returning to his lap. "You know, I was thinking about that. How long have you felt sick?"

He watched her eyes as they moved up and to the right as she counted in her head. She shrugged, meeting his eyes again. "I don't know. Five days."

He took a breath in, trying not to sound too hopeful. "Don't you think it's a little strange that I haven't caught whatever you have?"

She chewed on the inside of her lip as she regarded him, not sure where he was going. "Maybe I ate something weird?"

"That doesn't usually last this long though. Your bug hasn't shown any sign of slowing down."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated. "Well, what else could it be?"

"Promise not to kill me?" He asked, pulling a brown paper bag from behind the couch and passing it to her.

As she looked inside, he saw her counting in her head again, her eyes widening with the possibility that he offered. She met his eyes with worry. "You don't think?"

He chuckled. "No, I just bought them for giggles." He pulled the pregnancy test out of the bag, holding it in his hand. "I think it's a possibility that we should look in to so that we can start planning for our future."

"Do you want this?" She asked, indicating the test. "I mean, you always said you wanted kids, but I mean now, in the middle of your next novel, and me just starting this new job. Do you want this now?"

He leaned down, silencing her with his lips. He felt her relax underneath him as he pulled away. "I want this whenever it happens. Planned or unplanned, there is nothing I want to do more than raise a family with you."

Her smile came back then, growing more the longer she looked at him. She nodded. "Okay. I want this too, as long as you're in." She sat up, pointing to the kitchen. "Now go get me some water, I don't have to pee yet!" He laughed as he fulfilled her request, the nerves in his stomach dissipating as he relaxed. Either way, this was a good thing. It couldn't go wrong.

Two hours and two tests later, his hunch was confirmed. They fantasized all night about what their child might look like, discussed names, and dreamed big dreams for their son or daughter.

* * *

Rick watched them from the doorway of the bathroom. Oliver was adjusting his yellow goggles, sticking his head under the water over and over. "Mumma, I can see everything!" He enthused, his toothy grin infectious.

She laughed, rubbing shampoo into his hair while he was distracted. "That's really cool, bud." Her hand rested on the slight swell of her stomach, their second child still a long way from being born. "Hey, can you sit up please so I can rinse your hair?"

He did, pointing at Rick as he noticed him for the first time. "Daddy! These goggles that Grams got me are the best!"

"I'm glad! I'll let her know." He stepped in then, his wife flashing him a brilliant smile from her spot on the floor next to the tub. "You guys look like you had fun."

She laughed, the sound bursting from her chest. "We did!" She held her hand out, and he grabbed it, pulling her up. "I'm going to go pick out his pajamas and get our book ready. Do you mind drying him off and making sure he brushes his teeth?"

Rick pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. She had cut it recently, and it hung just past her shoulders now. "Not a problem. See you upstairs." She disappeared without another word, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before she left. Rick knelt down next to the tub, meeting his son's hazel eyes, just like his mother. "Oliver, it's time to get out. You'll wrinkle like a prune if you stay in any longer!"

The boy laughed, pulling the plug and standing. Rick lifted him up, wrapping him in a towel. He placed Oliver down on the step stool in front of the sink, tucking the towel around his waist. He grabbed the boy's toothbrush, an electric blue alien toothbrush. The boy rolled his eyes, looking at the object in his father's hand with disdain. "Do I need to brush my teeth?"

Rick nodded, squeezing the berry flavored toothpaste onto the white bristles. "Yes you do. You need to keep your mouth nice and healthy and your breath smelling nice." He twisted the cap back on the toothpaste, and handed the brush to his son. "If I had stinky breath, your Mom never would have kissed me."

The boy giggled. "Then she wouldn't have married you."

Rick nodded. "And then you wouldn't be here. So brush your teeth." As Oliver opened his mouth, working at the corner, Rick looked at the toothbrush holder that still held just his and her toothbrushes. Amazing how something so big starts with something so small.

 _Love starts with a toothbrush._


End file.
